Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $405.00 at Barclays

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $325.00 to $405.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.50% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WDC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.79.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC traded up $7.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $391.31. 1,484,487 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,317,669. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Western Digital has a one year low of $37.47 and a one year high of $402.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.75.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Western Digital will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,347,148.32. The trade was a 7.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 121,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,348 shares of company stock valued at $24,163,521. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,244,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after acquiring an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on WDC to $400 and maintained an Overweight rating, part of a broader bullish view from major banks that WDC can benefit from secular AI/data-center demand. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Bullish on Western Digital (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore boosted its price target and moved WDC to an outperform stance, contributing to analyst-driven upside and recent new 12‑month highs. Evercore price target raise / analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Industry fund flows into memory-focused ETFs (including SNDK, WDC, MU) have surged, helping bid up stocks in the sector as investors position for AI-driven capacity spending. SNDK, STX, MU, WDC rally powers first dedicated memory ETF to $1B AUM
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital announced management will participate in upcoming investor conferences (Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America), which typically supports clearer guidance and investor confidence ahead of earnings. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays reshuffled semiconductor coverage ahead of Q1 results, reallocating ratings across the space — a sector-wide reweighting that affects peers and WDC indirectly rather than signaling company-specific news. Barclays shifts semiconductor ratings ahead of earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media comparisons between SanDisk and Western Digital highlight differing end-market exposures (NAND flash vs HDD/total storage), useful context but not an immediate catalyst for WDC alone. SanDisk vs. Western Digital: Which Memory Storage Stock Is the Better Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting buy zones in memory peers (e.g., Silicon Motion) underscores sector tailwinds that can lift WDC, but these are peer-derivative trading signals rather than direct company developments. A Micron And Western Digital Peer Flashes Fresh Buy Zone With Earnings On Tap
• Negative Sentiment: Analyses flag that while WDC is generating stronger cash flow from AI/data-center demand, its leverage remains a concern — a financing or flexibility risk that could temper upside if growth slows. Can Western Digital’s Strong Cash Flow Outweigh its Leverage Concerns?

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.